Zolotarev, Vasilii

Zolotarev, Vasilii [Золотарев, Василий], b 7 March 1872 in Tahanrih, Katerynoslav gubernia, d 25 May 1964 in Moscow. Russian and Ukrainian composer and educator. A graduate of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1900) in the composition class of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, he was professor at the Odesa Conservatory (1924–6) and the Lysenko Music and Drama Institute in Kyiv (1926–31). He also taught at the Minsk Conservatory (1933–41). His works include the opera Khvesko Andyber (on Ukrainian themes, with a libretto by Maksym Rylsky, 1928); the Shevchenko Suite for chorus and orchestra (1909); art songs to texts by Ivan Franko, Oleksnader Oles, and others; and 30 Little Pieces, a cycle of Ukrainian songs for piano four hands. Among his students were Kostiantyn Dankevych, Volodymyr Femelidi, and Klymentii Dominchen.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]